New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin condemned what she described as an &#8220;apparent antisemitic stabbing&#8221; Thursday after two men were stabbed in separate attacks on Manhattan&#8217;s Upper West Side.
&#8220;The fear in the Jewish community is real. Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe in their neighborhood, regardless of their faith or identity,&#8221; Menin said in a statement, thanking the NYPD for quickly apprehending the suspect.
According to CBS News, the stabbings occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Police said the first victim, a 57-year-old man, was found with a stab wound to the torso near West 84th Street and Central Park West. A second victim, a 50-year-old man, was found several blocks away near West 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, also suffering a stab wound to the torso.
Both men were transported to a local hospital and are expected to survive. Police said one of the victims is Asian, and the other is Jewish. 
A source near the scene told The Daily Wire that one of the victims was wearing a kippah and had just left afternoon Jewish prayer services before the attack. 
He was stabbed in the right side of his chest, according to The Times of Israel, which cited the victim&#8217;s rabbi. The rabbi said he spoke with the victim after the attack, who recalled hearing screams before &#8220;everything went blank for him.&#8221; The victim is in stable condition and is expected to be released before Shabbat, the rabbi told the outlet.
The stabbings occurred on Tisha B&#8217;Av, the Jewish day of mourning commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples and other tragedies throughout Jewish history.
After the suspect was taken into custody, Manhattan Shomrim, a volunteer Jewish neighborhood watch organization, shared a photo on Instagram that it identified as the alleged attacker. The image shows a tall, thin man with gray hair wearing a camouflage T-shirt and black pants being led away by police.
The Anti-Defamation League&#8217;s New York/New Jersey office said its security partners had been told that two men, &#8220;at least one visibly Jewish,&#8221; were attacked by a man whom witnesses allege shouted, &#8220;Allahu Akbar.&#8221;
&#8220;This kind of violence has no place in NYC and must be immediately condemned and investigated,&#8221; the ADL said, adding that it is working with the NYPD and community partners to gather more information and support those affected. The organization also called on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to take action.
Later on Thursday, Mamdani took to social media and confirmed the NYPD is &#8220;evaluating these stabbings as potential hate crimes.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I have been briefed on today’s horrifying stabbings on the Upper West Side, where an Asian man and a Jewish man were attacked. According to witness and victim statements, the perpetrator yelled “Allahu Akbar” during both attacks. I am relieved that both victims are in stable… <a href="https://t.co/0LSGtvPojx">https://t.co/0LSGtvPojx</a>
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) <a href="https://x.com/NYCMayor/status/2080420241557835992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
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According to police, the suspect fled following the attacks before entering an apartment building on Amsterdam Avenue between West 88th and West 89th streets, where he barricaded himself inside an apartment. The NYPD Emergency Service Unit responded and negotiated with the suspect before taking him into custody at approximately 2:45 p.m. He was transported to a police station for questioning.
According to police sources cited by CBS News, the suspect has seven prior arrests, including two drug-related arrests dating back to 1991.
Police have not said whether they are investigating the attacks as a hate crime.

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NYC Stabbing Attack Sparks Fear Of Another Antisemitic Attack

Anti-Defamation League

antisemitism

Asian American

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New York Police Department (NYPD)

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Members of the far-Left &#8220;Squad&#8221; have built a reputation for their antisemitism — but apparently they struggle to tell individual Jews apart when attacking them for political positions.
Longtime Democratic commentator <a href="https://x.com/VanJones68/status/2078517905554288900">Van Jones</a> sparked the conversation with a post on X in which he called out the extremism within his own party. Clearly referencing the rise of the antisemitic democratic socialists, Jones said that he did not believe the party writ large should just open up the tent and &#8220;swear allegiance to crazy ideas.&#8221;
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) reposted Jones&#8217; video, adding his concurring thoughts: &#8220;I’m glad to see other Democrats reiterating what I’ve been saying all along: the DSA are not Democrats. They’re socialists, who want to hijack the Democratic Party. The Democrats have a big tent. That’s our strength. We embrace a range of ideas — but there’s no room for anti-American bomb-throwers who oppose our ideas, values, &amp; leaders.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I’m glad to see other Democrats reiterating what I’ve been saying all along: the DSA are not Democrats. They’re socialists, who want to hijack the Democratic Party.
The Democrats have a big tent. That’s our strength. We embrace a range of ideas — but there’s no room for… <a href="https://t.co/4egn90PNm0">https://t.co/4egn90PNm0</a>
— Rep Josh Gottheimer (@RepJoshG) <a href="https://x.com/RepJoshG/status/2079234888918843442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Squad member Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) replied to Gottheimer, saying, &#8220;What about Dems who sign bombs and vote to drop them?&#8221;
It was not long before the Community Notes began to pour in, pointing out the fact that it was Governor Josh Shapiro (D-PA) who had signed the bombs destined to support Ukraine in the ongoing fight against Russia. &#8220;Different Josh,&#8221; the comments read.
&#8220;You know that’s the other Jewish guy named Josh, right?&#8221; Gottheimer replied in another post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
You know that’s the other Jewish guy named Josh, right? <a href="https://t.co/dCF0AtT0rY">https://t.co/dCF0AtT0rY</a>
— Rep Josh Gottheimer (@RepJoshG) <a href="https://x.com/RepJoshG/status/2079673421529600327?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Card-carrying Squad member Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) rushed to Lee&#8217;s defense, firing back at Gottheimer, &#8220;He signed the bombs you voted to be dropped. Hope this helps!&#8221;
The Community notes on Omar&#8217;s post reminded her that Shapiro had signed bombs destined to defend Ukraine — not Israel — and Gottheimer quickly pointed out the fact that Omar herself had also voted to send aid to Ukraine.
&#8220;Ilhan, you know who else voted for it? You,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Ilhan, you know who else voted for it? You. <a href="https://t.co/IjIQW4TNwF">https://t.co/IjIQW4TNwF</a> <a href="https://t.co/OwiNHHcXdz">https://t.co/OwiNHHcXdz</a> <a href="https://t.co/m8E8N4g8RD">pic.twitter.com/m8E8N4g8RD</a>
— Rep Josh Gottheimer (@RepJoshG) <a href="https://x.com/RepJoshG/status/2079730367397822598?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Rep. Lee also voted in favor of H.R. 8035, the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024.

Ilhan Omar

The Squad Can’t Keep Their Jews Straight

Josh Shapiro

Media

Politics

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has finally said the quiet part out loud.
The far-Left Democratic darling — currently locked in a three-way primary to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters — blew up his own outreach efforts at a &#8220;Jews for Abdul&#8221; campaign event in Pontiac, Michigan, after admitting he &#8220;struggles&#8221; to answer whether Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state.
In a leaked audio recording obtained by <a href="https://jewishinsider.com/2026/05/abdul-el-sayed-struggles-israel-right-to-exist-jewish-state/">Jewish Insider</a>, the Bernie Sanders-backed radical didn’t just sidestep the question — he turned on his own audience and demanded they justify Israel’s existence under “liberal values.”
&#8220;I often struggle with the question that people ask in this particular scenario, because what they now ask is, ‘Do you believe in the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state,’ which, to me, forces the question of a definition of what a Jewish state means,” El-Sayed barked back at an audience member who called him out for dodging inquiries on the Jewish state.
He then took it a step further, aggressively turning the tables on the crowd. “I need folks who want to ask me that question [to explain] what it is that they mean by that, and how that is consistent with any form of liberal values that we say we believe in here in the United States,&#8221; El-Sayed said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
SCOOP | Abdul El-Sayed, the far-left Democratic candidate for Michigan’s Senate seat, said at an event with Jewish supporters last week that he struggles to answer questions about whether he believes Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state.
“I often struggle with the… <a href="https://t.co/ugjbXgxUvr">pic.twitter.com/ugjbXgxUvr</a>
— Jewish Insider (@jewishinsider) <a href="https://twitter.com/jewishinsider/status/2059428334665162966?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
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The epidemiologist and anti-establishment favorite then rolled out the standard far-Left playbook, smearing America&#8217;s ally by accusing Israel of implementing &#8220;apartheid&#8221; in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza. He further grumbled that the question of Israel’s right to exist unfairly overlooks “the rights of people who’ve been displaced by Israeli action” dating back to 1948.
El-Sayed’s statements took place in front of a paltry audience of just a &#8220;few dozen&#8221; people, according to campaign photos — at least one of whom wasn&#8217;t even Jewish, according to Jewish Insider.
The shock audio drops a massive bomb on El-Sayed’s already controversial campaign, which has sent shockwaves of panic through Michigan&#8217;s sizable Jewish community. The leftist Muslim candidate has repeatedly faced fierce backlash for cozying up to toxic anti-Israel extremists.
El-Sayed sparked fury following a terrifying Hezbollah-inspired terrorist attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, where a fanatic attempted to murder 140 children by driving an explosive-laden truck into the synagogue&#8217;s preschool. El-Sayed rationalized the near-massacre, declaring that &#8220;hurt people hurt people.&#8221;
Worse yet, El-Sayed followed the synagogue attack by boasting about joint campaign appearances with Hasan Piker — a toxic, self-described Marxist Twitch streamer who has previously slurred Orthodox Jews as &#8220;inbred&#8221; and claimed America deserved the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Insiders say the leaked audio confirms what critics have warned about for months: El-Sayed is eagerly currying favor with the hardline Islamist political infrastructure in Dearborn. A previous leaked recording already caught El-Sayed ordering his staff to stay silent on the joint U.S.-Israeli elimination of Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier this year, explicitly admitting he didn&#8217;t want to anger Dearborn voters who would be &#8220;sad&#8221; over the death of the theocratic, terror-sponsoring butcher.
El-Sayed’s latest anti-Israel comments make it crystal clear whose side he&#8217;s on.

Abdul El-Sayed

Radical Senate Candidate Admits He ‘Struggles’ To Say Israel Has A Right To Exist

2026 Midterms

anti-Israel

Democrats

Israel

Michigan

Muslim

Two Jewish men were stabbed by a 45-year-old man in London on Wednesday in what witnesses have described as a targeted attack. 
A knife-wielding man was detained after attacking men in Golders Green, a largely Jewish north London suburb, according to reports from the United Kingdom. Shomrim, a Jewish neighborhood patrol group, said the attacker was targeting “Jewish members of the public.”
The attacker was <a href="https://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/metpoliceuk/news/man-arrested-after-two-stabbed-in-barnet-508805">running</a> through the neighborhood with a knife before being confronted by members of Shomrim. The attacker was later tased and arrested by police after attempting to stab responding officers. Police have labeled the attack as terrorism. 
The victims — one in his 30s and the other in his 70s — were treated at the scene by Hatzola, a local volunteer medical group. They have since been transported to the hospital in stable condition. 
Police have arrested the man on suspicion of attempted murder and said they are trying to determine his nationality and background.  
“We are aware of the significant distress and concern this incident is likely to cause in the face of a number of incidents in the local area,” said Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams. “A suspect is in custody, and investigators are considering all possible motives.
The stabbing spree followed a suspected arson attack in the neighborhood on Monday. 
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer <a href="https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/2049460049139900719">called</a> the attack “utterly appalling.” 
“Attacks on our Jewish community are attacks on Britain,” he said. “Thank you to Shomrim, Hatzola, and the police for acting swiftly. Those responsible will be brought to justice.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the attack and said police “have stepped up high visibility patrols in the area.”
Member of Parliament Chris Philp said the British government was not doing enough to combat radical Islam. 
“This is yet another appalling antisemitic attack. The Jewish community are not being properly protected from this hate. We have seen Iran sponsoring antisemitic attacks and Islamist extremism run rampant,” he <a href="https://x.com/CPhilpOfficial/status/2049449357674484065">said</a>. “The government must urgently step up tangible actions against antisemitism, Iran, and Islamist extremism.”
One 30-year-old Jewish man told The Telegraph that the government had not done enough to protect his community.
“We used to feel very comfortable here. We thought we were safe and that the Government had our backs,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/29/two-men-stabbed-outside-golders-green-synagogue/">said</a>. &#8220;But so much has happened in the past few weeks and all we get is reassurances and words of condemnation from the prime minister.&#8221;
The attack comes as King Charles visits the United States and is set to visit the 9/11 Memorial in New York City on Wednesday.

Two Stabbed In Golders Green Area Of London

Violence In London Jewish Enclave During King Charles U.S. Visit

Islam

London

Stabbing

terrorist attack

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Earlier this month, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood at One Police Plaza and acknowledged that anti-Jewish hate crimes comprise more than half of all hate crimes in his city, even though Jews are only about 10% of the population. Yet when asked what message he wanted to send, he offered nothing more than a platitude about everyone belonging and everyone being cherished.
That gap between data and response is not merely political. It may become legal, and could become deadly.
Mamdani has staked his public safety reputation on precision policing, a data-driven strategy that deploys resources where the numbers point. It is a sensible approach, and the overall crime figures reflect it. But precision policing has a logical corollary: if the data shows one community absorbing 55% of hate crimes – more than five times their share of the population — a generic response is not neutral. When a strategy is explicitly driven by data about where crime is concentrated and who is being victimized, a deliberate decision to not respond with equivalent precision begins to look less like oversight and more like selective indifference. Mamdani’s approach presents three overlapping legal problems for the city.
The first is Equal Protection. Although the government may exercise discretion in enforcing the law, it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment when a motivating factor in its failure to protect people from crime is invidious discrimination against a protected group, such as Jews or Israelis.
Mamdani’s public record already evinces a pattern and practice of such discrimination.
From the first days of his administration, Mamdani made a series of choices all pointing in the same direction: reduced protection for Jews and Israelis against rising antisemitic hate crimes. Mamdani deleted official statements about protecting Jewish New Yorkers, rescinded the city’s IHRA-based antisemitism order, and folded the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes into a broader Office of Community Safety. He also offers a constant drumbeat of anti-Israel propaganda, complete with false claims of genocide, apartheid, and racism, having the purpose and effect of fomenting hatred against both Jews and Israelis.
The Mayor insists that antisemitism be viewed in tandem with a purportedly equivalent threat to Muslims, his favored religious constituency, while touting a 140% rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes. But that is a false equivalence, reflecting deliberate indifference to the magnitude of the peril faced by Jews in New York. In the first quarter of 2026, Muslims were the targets of 12 (8.4%) confirmed hate crimes, representing an estimated 10% share of the population of New York City. The share of hate crimes did increase for Muslims, but from only five incidents in the first quarter of 2025. In all of 2025, according to the NYPD, Jews in New York were the victims of 324 hate crimes — over six per week — constituting 57.6% of the total, while 26 hate crimes targeted Muslims, 4.6% of the total. To insist that these are equivalent threats bespeaks sectarian bias not fairness.
The second problem for the city is municipal liability for that discriminatory failure to protect under Monell v. Department of Social Services. Under the Monell doctrine, a city can be sued directly when a constitutional violation flows from an official policy or custom. Monell cases are usually slow to build, because a pattern and practice of deliberate indifference usually takes a while to develop. Mamdani is an exception. He is constructing a record against the city, in public, in real time. Every statement minimizing antisemitism, every decision to dilute targeted protections, every press conference where he recites the numbers and then changes the subject, is a tile in the Monell mosaic. The evidentiary foundation for a Monell claim against the city is being delivered from the Mayor&#8217;s podium.
The third looming implication for the city is federal liability. Under 34 U.S.C. §12601, the Department of Justice has authority to investigate and sue local law enforcement agencies for engaging in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of constitutional rights. This statute has been used for decades to go after cities that over-police minority communities. There is no legal reason it cannot work in the opposite direction, against a city that systematically under-protects one. The federal government could also withdraw funding from the city for law enforcement programs (or even more broadly), or seek refunds of prior grants, on the grounds that the city is violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which applies to all federal grant recipients.
A formal complaint to the DOJ Civil Rights Division, grounded in the NYPD&#8217;s published hate crime data, calling for an investigation into New York City&#8217;s response to antisemitic hate crimes, would be unprecedented. It would also be legally sound. The data and public course of conduct by Mamdani are more than enough to suggest the sort of pattern and practice that warrants the federal scrutiny of an in-depth DOJ investigation.
Of course, the NYPD does not ignore these crimes entirely. Commissioner Tisch, to her credit, has often spoken about the issue. But when the policymaker at the top repeatedly signals that anti-Jewish targeting will be met with indifference and abstraction rather than attention and action or raises “concerns” about even modest efforts to stop protesters from besieging Jewish worshippers, or announces that if he cannot get the Commissioner to agree to dismantle the Strategic Response Group he will simply overrule her, that travels down the chain of command to impact how scenes are policed, and how cases are classified, investigated, prioritized, and deterred.
Nor must the legal record wait until the worst facts arrive. Thankfully, where plaintiffs can show a cognizable threat of ongoing unequal treatment, declaratory and injunctive remedies may be available before irreparable harm is inflicted. If we build the record now, there is still time for a course correction before even more crimes occur.
Mayor Mamdani said the numbers tell an indisputable story. He is right. The story they tell is that Jewish New Yorkers are the most targeted minority in the city he governs, that hate crimes are a rising threat, and that his response has been at best, generic, and at worst, corrosively hostile.
Equal protection means something. Monell means something. Federal authority over civil rights means something. The law does not wait for a mayor to get around to caring, and neither should we.
* * *
Dr. Mark Goldfeder is the CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center and a professor at Touro Law School.
Alan Scheiner is Senior Litigation Counsel at the National Jewish Advocacy Center.

New NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Makes An Announcement In Brooklyn

The Numbers Tell One Story. The Mayor’s Response Tells Another

14th Amendment

Democratic Socialism

Discrimination

DW Opinion

Hate Crime

Zohran Mamdani

As the world marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Jewish community stands at a poignant crossroads of memory and resilience.
<a href="https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-892865">New data</a> from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reveals a staggering truth: eight decades after the Nazi regime attempted to extinguish the Jewish flame, the global Jewish population has climbed to 15.8 million. While this remains just shy of the 16.6 million recorded in 1939, the trajectory represents a defiant rebound from the 11.5 million left in the wake of the Shoah.
This recovery is nothing short of miraculous when viewed through the lens of a history defined by systematic attempts at annihilation. The Jewish story did not begin with the gas chambers; it has been a millennia-long gauntlet of survival. From the dawn of history, the Jewish people faced the Egyptian Oppression and the military campaigns of Merneptah, who boasted of laying Israel to waste. The iron fist of Mesopotamia followed, with the Assyrian Conquest of 722 BCE and the Babylonian Siege of 586 BCE, which saw the First Temple reduced to ash.
Even when the Jews fought back, as they did against the Hellenizing forces of Antiochus IV during the Maccabean Revolt, the reprieve was often brief. The Roman era brought a new level of carnage: the First Jewish-Roman War and the Kitos War left hundreds of thousands dead, culminating in the Bar Kokhba Revolt, where half a million Jews perished under Hadrian’s legions.
The Middle Ages and the Early Modern period offered no sanctuary. The Rhineland Massacres of the First Crusade, the horrific Strasbourg Massacre during the Black Death, the state-sanctioned fires of the Spanish Inquisition, and the blood-soaked Khmelnytsky Uprising all served to suppress Jewish numbers through sheer brutality. By the 19th and early 20th centuries, the &#8220;pogrom&#8221; became a staple of Eastern European life, from the 1881–1884 riots to the Kishinev Pogrom to the post-WWI slaughter in Ukraine.
Then came the Holocaust—an industrialized nightmare where Babi Yar, Operation Reinhard, and Auschwitz-Birkenau became synonyms for the abyss. Yet, as we look at the 111,000 survivors still living in Israel today, we see the living embodiment of &#8220;Never Again.&#8221;
Despite the constant threat from the Arab world, which has been at war with the Jewish state since its inception, today, 45% of the world&#8217;s Jews—7.2 million—call Israel home, a radical shift from the 3% who lived there in 1939. While threats persist, evidenced by the horrific October 7 massacre, the data tell a story of an indestructible people. Despite a history of massacres designed to erase them, the Jewish community has clawed its way back from the brink, nearing a return to its pre-war strength and a vibrant, growing, and eternal presence.

Someone lighting the last candle of a Menorah

The Indestructible Flame: On Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jews Have Returned To Pre-Holocaust Numbers

Bible

General

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World

As we approach the holiest day of the year for the Catholic Church, tens of millions will prepare to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Americans across the country are preparing to join the faith I have belonged to since birth.
Converts to the faith have played a crucial role over the last two millennia, from St. Paul’s journey to Damascus, to St. Augustine&#8217;s departure from a life of debauchery that would make Hugh Hefner blush, to G.K. Chesterton, whose writings still speak to millions nearly a century later, to St. Elizabeth Seton, the first American-born saint.
I firmly believe the Catholic Church is the greatest civil institution ever created. Since its founding, the Church has clothed the naked, educated the young, fed the hungry, tended to the sick, and through divine mercy provided the path to salvation for billions of people.
During the darkest times in human history, the Catholic Church was the only institution that separated the West from barbarism. The very fabric of Western civilization is tied to the history of the Church.
While it’s easy for me to wax poetic about a church I have repeatedly fallen in love with over the years — even with all of its shortcomings — other high-profile converts appear to be using their newfound membership in the Catholic faith as nothing more than a political prop.
It is true, the vast majority of new converts join for all the right reasons. But a small, vocal cadre of political influencers are using their catholicism to build social media platforms, feigning purity as an E-girl or, even worse, promoting antisemitism. It is people doing the latter who pose the most credible threat to the integrity of all Catholics and create a widespread erroneous belief that Catholicism has an issue with Jews.
Unlike many branches of Christianity, the Catholic Church does not demand that the faithful be committed Zionists to receive God’s blessing. Many prominent members of the Church have spoken out about the plight of civilians in Gaza. It seems recent converts to the faith understand those teachings but somehow forget that the Church also rejects any form of antisemitism, condemns hostility toward Jews, and upholds the enduring covenant with the Jewish people as God’s chosen people. They have already become cafeteria Catholics, picking and choosing which parts of the teachings they prefer.
Holding nuanced opinions about sensitive subjects in the Middle East, like America&#8217;s relationship with Israel, can be a tough balancing act for anyone. For the Catholic, however, it is completely possible to be a critic of Middle Eastern affairs without being expressly antisemitic. And your new membership in the Catholic faith should not serve as your call to action against the State of Israel.
Yet for some political influencers, their call to the faith doesn&#8217;t seem rooted in deep devotion or hope for eternal salvation. Rather, their main mission seems to be in &#8220;otherizing&#8221; of those who don’t fall into their particular bubble.
Perhaps the gravest sin in all of this is using Christ and the Church as a political prop. Using a phrase like “Christ is King” — not to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, the salvation of souls from hell, and His resurrection — but to otherize those of different faiths is no different than taking the Lord’s name in vain.
The phrase “Christ is King” should not be followed by &#8220;Netanyahu should be on trial for war crimes.&#8221;
For those just joining the Church, it is worth remembering that Catholics in this country were long treated as outsiders — feared, condemned, and accused of harboring foreign allegiances. Most cradle Catholics of the Ellis Island stock have a better understanding of that shared history.
Those looking to use the Church as a platform to dictate foreign policy or dismiss the life of other faiths are no less cringeworthy than when priests from the Boomer generation host climate change events or demand that the United States change its immigration laws.
It seems transparent that your membership in this church is one more platform, like a social media account where views and followers are all that matter, not devotion.
These are uneasy times, but it’s in moments of darkness that we as Catholics should look to the saints who have come before us and truly offer our lives to Christ and build the church – not use it for self-advancement.
* * *
Ryan James Girdusky is an author, podcaster, political consultant, and writer whose work has been featured in the Washington Examiner, The American Conservative Magazine, The Week, Human Events, and The Daily Caller. He is the host of “It’s A Numbers Game with Ryan Girdusky” podcast. Follow him on X: @RyanGirdusky
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Happy couple taking selfie in front of Duomo cathedral in Milan, Lombardia – Two tourists having fun on romantic summer vacation in Italy – Holidays and traveling lifestyle concept

The Catholic Convert Boom Is Real But A Troubling Pattern Is Emerging

Catholic Church

Catholicism

Catholics

Opinion

Religion

U.S. Politics

Western Civilization

Last week, my home state of Michigan witnessed something truly terrifying: a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-respond-to-reports-of-active-shooter-as-michigan-synagogue-goes-up-in-smoke">terrorist attack</a> at a house of worship. The attacker drove a vehicle filled with explosives into a synagogue in West Bloomfield, a suburb of Detroit, just a few hours outside of my district.
Thankfully, on-site security personnel quickly intervened — stopping the terrorist and preventing any injury to the innocent children or staff inside. I am grateful to these guardians for responding quickly to safeguard those innocent lives, and I pray for the recovery of those injured in stopping this despicable attack.
This attack, however, isn’t an isolated incident. It is part of a broader and deeply troubling rise in antisemitism that has spread across our country since the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel.
Nowhere is that rise more evident than on our college campuses.
Students have been whipped into an activist frenzy targeting Israel and the Jewish people.
Rather than stamping out the antisemitic fervor, faculty are fanning the flames. Many campus leaders seem completely unwilling to do anything about it.
<div id="attachment_1062451" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1062451" class="size-large wp-image-1062451" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2154554442-864x576.jpg" alt="TOPSHOT - Pro-Palestinian protesters, some wearing cap and gown, hold signs and chant at a rally in front of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 28, 2024. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2154554442-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2154554442-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2154554442-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2154554442.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images</div>
On campuses across the nation — regardless of size or location — student groups are organizing to harass and intimidate Jewish students. Groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) are the ringleaders, often with the backing of similar faculty organizations.
At Columbia University, antisemitic demonstrators stormed a library, disrupted students, and chanted slogans like “from the river to the sea.” Eden Yadegar, my guest to President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress last year, described it as “disrupting one of the most basic functions of the university.”
All too often, this chaos leads to violence. The House Committee on Education and Workforce — of which I am the <a href="https://edworkforce.house.gov/">chairman</a> — heard from Michael Kaminsky, a student at DePaul University and a first-generation American who was assaulted by masked attackers for his efforts to promote dialogue about Israel and the Jewish faith. He was left with a fractured wrist, and his friend was knocked unconscious.
This is not what college should be. Students should be focused on learning and growing — not fearing harassment or assault because of their identities.
These actions are not happening in a vacuum. They are being encouraged — sometimes openly — by faculty.
At Haverford College, Tarik Aougab — a member of Haverford Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FSJP) — labeled pro-Israel students as “racist genocidaires” while praising the October 7 attacks as “a historic moment.”
At the University of California, Berkeley, a professor posted that he “could have been one of those who broke the siege.”
At MIT, former linguistics professor Michel DeGraff accused a student of having a Zionist “mind infection.”
<div id="attachment_1062465" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1062465" class="size-large wp-image-1062465" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2205276310-864x576.jpg" alt="Michel DeGraff a former professor of linguistics and now faculty at large of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) attends a protest at city hall in Cambridge, Massachusetts on December 9, 2024. The protest calls for the city to intervene and take action against MIT for its role in the Israeli and Palestinian conflict and for MIT to loose its non profit status. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2205276310-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2205276310-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2205276310-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2205276310.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images</div>
This kind of rhetoric has consequences.
Let’s be clear: for many Jewish Americans, Israel is central to their identity. When students are targeted under the guise of “anti-Zionism,” the line between activism and antisemitism is not just crossed — it’s erased.
And yet, too many university leaders have failed to meet this moment.
Time and again, university presidents have come before this Committee and refused to take responsibility. They hedge, they equivocate, and they fail to enforce even their own rules.
The result is what we see today: antisemitism that is spreading, intensifying, and, in some cases, turning violent.
My Committee has released a report documenting just how serious this problem has become.
The findings are clear: weak leadership, radical faculty, and emboldened student groups have created an environment where antisemitism festers — and Jewish students are paying the price.
This cannot continue.
* * *
Tim Walberg represents Michigan’s 5th Congressional District and is serving his ninth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He currently chairs the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Protesters Gather Outside Pro-Palestinian Activist Mahmoud Khalil’s Court Conference In New York

The Profs Aren’t Alright: How Radical Faculty Fuel The Rise Of Campus Antisemitism

The Profs Aren't Alright: How Radical Faculty Fuel The Rise Of Campus Antisemitism

American Universities

College

Columbia University

Education

Hamas

October 7

Protestors

Radical Islam

U.S. House of Representatives

A popular social media news page in Dearborn, Michigan, sparked outrage for a post on Thursday that focused on the Michigan synagogue attacker&#8217;s recent &#8220;family tragedy&#8221; just hours after the man rammed his vehicle into the largest Jewish Reform synagogue in the United States and opened fire with a rifle.
TCD Dearborn News, which has over half a million followers on Instagram and 150,000 followers on Facebook, wrote that synagogue attacker Ayman Ghazali &#8220;recently experienced a family tragedy overseas&#8221; when two of his brothers and some of his nephews were killed in an Israeli air strike in Lebanon. The news page also described the attack as an &#8220;incident&#8221; and wrote that &#8220;the suspect died following reports of an active shooter at the synagogue.&#8221;
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The Dearborn news page was blasted on social media for its framing of the story.
&#8220;Trying to justify terrorists living in your city 👎,&#8221; one Instagram user wrote on TCD Dearborn News&#8217; post.
&#8220;Love how this headline can&#8217;t even say what the &#8216;incident&#8217; was. Absolutely pathetic,&#8221; another person added.
Jesse Arm, vice president of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute, <a href="https://x.com/Jesse_Leg/status/2032229722604589370">wrote</a>, &#8220;Isn’t it interesting how we’re constantly told that hating Jews and hating the Jewish state are two entirely separate, disconnected things—yet when a Lebanese immigrant from Dearborn attempts a mass-casualty terrorist attack at a Jewish preschool in West Bloomfield, the fact that his family was impacted by a conflict started by a terrorist organization against Israel on the other side of the globe suddenly becomes relevant context[?]&#8221;
The Daily Wire reached out to TCD Dearborn News for comment.
Ghazali was killed by security personnel after ramming his vehicle, which was reportedly full of explosives, into Temple Israel. One security guard sustained injuries after being struck by the attacker&#8217;s vehicle. No one else in the synagogue, which also houses a preschool, was hurt, and the wounded security guard is expected to recover.
Ghazali was a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-synagogue-terrorist-ended-up-a-u-s-citizen-goes-back-to-obama-era?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Brecca+Stoll&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=How+Synagogue+Terrorist+Ended+Up+A+U.S.+Citizen+Goes+Back+To+Obama+Era">Lebanese national</a> who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2016 under the Obama administration, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to The Daily Wire. He was born in Lebanon in 1985 and entered the United States in 2011 on an immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen. Ghazali&#8217;s wife filed for divorce in August 2024, and the divorce was finalized in March 2025, The Detroit News <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2026/03/12/temple-israel-synagogue-suspect-identified-as-dearborn-heights-man/89126461007/">reported</a>.
Ghazali lived and worked in Dearborn Heights, according to multiple local reports. The Dearborn and Dearborn Heights area has one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States. Dearborn Heights is 20 miles south of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, an area that holds the largest Jewish population in Michigan.
The FBI said on Thursday night that it is leading the investigation into the attack, calling it a &#8220;targeted attack on the Jewish community.&#8221; Law enforcement officials did not say whether they had a lead on a potential motivation behind the attack. Armed FBI agents were seen executing a search warrant at the house believed to belong to Ghazali late Thursday night, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/armed-fbi-agents-carry-out-search-warrant-believed-connection-synagogue-attacker">reported</a>.
Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun commented on the attack on the Jewish synagogue and also mentioned that &#8220;earlier this month, [Ghazali] lost several members of his own family, including his niece and nephew, in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon,&#8221; according to The Detroit News. Baydoun condemned the attack on &#8220;a house of worship,&#8221; saying, &#8220;Everyone deserves to worship in peace.&#8221;
&#8220;This tragedy comes at a time when communities everywhere are confronting rising hate and senseless violence,&#8221; the mayor added. &#8220;No matter where violence occurs, whether in West Bloomfield or anywhere around in the world, harm against innocent people is something we must all stand firmly against. The tensions we see across the world too often find their way into our own neighborhoods, reminding us how deeply connected our shared safety is.&#8221;

US-SHOOTING-SYNAGOGUE-MICHIGAN

Dearborn Media Outlet Pivots To Synagogue Attacker’s Recent ‘Family Tragedy’

Dearborn News Page Focuses On Recent 'Family Tragedy' Of Synagogue Attacker

Lebanon

Muslims

Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer said Friday that heated political &#8220;rhetoric&#8221; was to blame for the terror attack on the Temple Israel synagogue, calling Thursday&#8217;s incident a clear act of antisemitism.
Whitmer’s comments come after a man rammed his truck into Temple Israel, the largest Reform Judaism congregation in the United States, and opened fire with a rifle. The suspect, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-synagogue-terrorist-ended-up-a-u-s-citizen-goes-back-to-obama-era?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Brecca+Stoll&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=How+Synagogue+Terrorist+Ended+Up+A+U.S.+Citizen+Goes+Back+To+Obama+Era">identified</a> as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a Lebanese national who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2016, was killed by synagogue security. 
“Yesterday&#8217;s attack was antisemitism. It was hate, plain and simple,” Whitmer said. “We will fight this ancient and rampant evil, we will stand together as we do it, and we will call it out. We must lower the rhetoric in the state and in this country, especially at this moment where we have seen such a rise in antisemitism and more attacks on the Jewish community.”
Whitmer said that the attacker was “fomented by rhetoric that they see online and that they see on television and they hear on the radio. It radicalizes people, and it endangers our fellow Michiganders. We cannot let this continue.”
She did not mention Ghazali by name and referred specific questions about the investigation to the FBI. 
“I am calling on anyone with a platform to be very responsible with their rhetoric, not to identify or target the Jewish community,” Whitmer said. “That is antisemitism writ large, and I don&#8217;t think that any of us should permit or allow that to stand. And that&#8217;s why I&#8217;m asking people to turn down the rhetoric.”
Ghazali was born in Lebanon in 1985 and entered the United States in 2011 on an immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, the Department of Homeland Security said. He applied for naturalization in October 2015 and became an American citizen in February 2016. 
Whitmer praised the synagogue&#8217;s security team, noting that the attack occurred while children were present.  
“I want to thank Temple Israel&#8217;s security personnel,” Whitmer said. “They were selfless in their courage, and they saved lives. These heroes threw themselves in harm&#8217;s way, engaging the suspect, and let&#8217;s be very clear, yes, this is a place of worship, but at the time that this attack occurred, it was a school, 104 children, aged 5 and younger.”
The FBI is continuing to investigate the attack.

Secretary Blinken And U.S. Governors Speak At The 2023 SelectUSA Investment Summit In Maryland

Whitmer Points The Finger After Synagogue Terror Attack

Gretchen Whitmer

Synagogue Attack

On Thursday, President Trump returned to the National Prayer Breakfast and proceeded to give a speech that was reasonably religious in overtones.
Something fascinating about the president is that he&#8217;s been able to do things that a lot of Christian conservatives and religious Jews appreciate while maintaining a largely secular coalition.
What would appear to be a marginal increase in non-Christian affiliation inside the Republican Party is not marginal because the overall loss in the traditional religious constituency in the Republican Party is reflective of an overall loss of religiosity in the American public more generally.
Today, the majority of Republicans are religious, but an increasing percentage are not particularly religious, and it is pretty religiously diverse.
That does not mean that the Republican Party should somehow abandon the moral issues that make the Republican Party the Republican Party. That&#8217;s not my case.
My case is that making the Republican Party non-ecumenical as opposed to ecumenical is a mistake. We’ve seen this sort of move being made on behalf of some parts of the sort of the trad-Catholic Right, some of the quasi-integralists on the Right, who seem to be making a move to break up the Republican coalition by suggesting that there is a vast religious revival that is happening in the country that is going to drive Republicans to victory.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2363-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Those numbers do not exist. I wish there were; I wish there were a vast religious revival in the country and that the Republican Party was closer to its biblical moral values. I wish that were the case.
But that is not supported by the data, which is why Trump is the right president for this moment, and it&#8217;s why Republicans have to watch out for coalition building and how not to break it up.
When you talk about the increasing irreligiosity of the body politic, that is correct. That doesn&#8217;t mean that Republicans should abandon social issues. They absolutely should not.
But it does mean that the more overt you are about marginal social issues, the more you are likely to lose the Trump coalition. Trump is winning outsized shares of Christian evangelicals, Catholics, and religious people because the Left is crazy, not because he is campaigning as some sort of religious figure.
If you wish for Republicans to win, then presenting good policy with a moderate face — even if you have outsized rhetoric like President Trump — is a better path to victory than embracing the fringe positions taken by so many on X and elsewhere.
President Trump can go to the National Prayer Breakfast and give what are, at best, sort of vague religious statements. And that&#8217;s fine with people. President Trump literally joked about making it to heaven at the National Prayer Breakfast, saying:
I said, “I’m never going to make it to heaven. I just don’t think I qualify.” I don’t think there’s a thing I can do, but all of these good things I’m doing, including for religion — you know, religion’s back now hotter than ever before — but I said, “Even though I did that, and so many other things” —  I named things. I said, “I won’t qualify. I’m not going to make it to heaven.”
And the New York Times did a front-page story that Donald Trump is questioning his life and the meaning of his life. No, I was just having fun. I really think I probably should make it; I mean, I’m not a perfect candidate, but I did a hell of a lot of good for perfect people.
That last line, that he&#8217;s done a lot of things for people, is the reason he’s been elected president twice. 
President Trump says, listen, you have to believe in something. You have to have a religion in general. 
This is the American position. The American position is that Biblical values are good and that we like religious practice in this country. Freedom of religion and freedom from government intervention in religion are in the same amendment for a reason. That broad ecumenism is a winning approach for the Republicans.
And pointing out the anti-religious secularism of the Left is a winning approach for Republicans.
President Trump has the pulse of the American people on the vast majority of issues, which is why he usually takes the 80% on 80/20 issues.
Republicans need to continue to do that.

US-POLITICS-RELIGION-PRAYER-BREAKFAST-TRUMP

The Big Tent: Trump’s Ecumenical Path To Victory

Ben Shapiro

Christianity

Donald Trump

Judeo-Christian Values

Prayer

Republican Party

White House

The following is an edited transcript from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1893-children-terrified-leftist-mob-storms-church-in-minneapolis?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">The Michael Knowles Show</a>.
* * *
A very controversial statement — at least according to the internet — has just come out of Jerusalem. And not just from the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, the chief Catholic prelate there, but from the heads of the other historic churches as well: the Armenian Church, the Syriac Church, the Greek Orthodox Church — all the Apostolic churches of Jerusalem.
Here is what they said. In a statement titled On Unity and the Representation of the Christian Communities in the Holy Land:
<blockquote>The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in the Holy Land affirm before the faithful and before the world that the ﬂock of Christ in this land is entrusted to the Apostolic Churches, which have borne their sacred ministry across centuries with steadfast devotion. </blockquote>
Here is the controversial line:
<blockquote>Recent activities undertaken by local individuals who advance damaging ideologies such as Christian Zionism mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock. These undertakings have found favor among certain political actors in Israel and beyond, who seek to push a political agenda which may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East.</blockquote>
The statement goes on for several more paragraphs and concludes with: “May the Lord, who is the shepherd and guardian of souls, grant wisdom for the protection of His people and the safeguarding of His witness in the sacred land.” 
It is signed by the patriarchs and heads of the churches in Jerusalem.
So what is this about?
We’ve heard a lot about Zionism — the nationalist ideology that arose in the 19th century and sought to return Jews to the Holy Land, where they had lived millennia earlier, though not in large numbers for quite some time. We’ve also heard about Christian Zionism, which is a specifically Christian theological take on that project.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1893-children-terrified-leftist-mob-storms-church-in-minneapolis?elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Recent+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show</a></h3>
But who exactly are these “local individuals” sowing discord and undermining proper Christian authority?
I had to look into this, because as a Catholic I don’t exactly keep up with every niche Protestant trend. And I think the patriarchs are referring to a man named Robert Stearns, who styles himself “Bishop Robert Stearns.” He is not part of any Apostolic Christian community, but he calls himself a bishop anyway. He is also a vociferous advocate of Christian Zionism.
Here’s a sample of what he recently said:
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“Christian” Zionist Robert Stearns apologizes to Jews at Jerusalem Post conference for 2,000 years of “Christian history” hurting Jewish people.
He says it&#8217;s “irrelevant” if Jesus was the Messiah and claims to be part of a new Christian group “serving Zion.”
Follow: <a href="https://twitter.com/AFpost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AFpost</a> <a href="https://t.co/aHhMgOfpA3">pic.twitter.com/aHhMgOfpA3</a>
— AF Post (@AFpost) <a href="https://twitter.com/AFpost/status/2011500100624040442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 14, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @AFpost/X.com
I was trying to be sympathetic here, but this is just ridiculous. It violates the law of non-contradiction — a principle we’ve known about since at least Aristotle. Opposing statements cannot both be true in the same respect.
Christ’s return cannot be both His first coming and His second coming. It’s one or the other. And if you’re a Christian, I’m happy to break it to you: it will be the second coming. You actually have to believe that.
This attempt to be cute or accommodating doesn’t resolve anything. It just empties theology of meaning.
Stearns also claims that the existence of the modern State of Israel is of biblical and prophetic necessity — that it is required for the end times to unfold. I know plenty of people share this view. But here’s the thing: this theology is new. Really new. Less than two centuries old. It is not the traditional Christian position, and it is not the correct one.
Which brings us back to the Jerusalem statement.
Is it shocking? Is it anti-Israel? Is it a break with tradition?
No. Not at all.
In fact, the position expressed by the patriarchs lines up perfectly with long-standing Vatican teaching. Here is something from 1985 — forty years ago, and two decades after the Second Vatican Council. This declaration from the Vatican goes out of its way to speak respectfully of Jews and is in no way anti-Semitic:
<blockquote>The history of Israel did not end in 70 A.D., but continued, especially in the numerous diasporas, which led Israel to carry to the whole world a witness, often heroic, of its fidelity to the one God… while preserving the memory of the land of their forefathers at the heart of their hope.</blockquote>
That reference, by the way, is to the Passover Seder.
Notice what’s happening here. The Vatican is not talking about the Church as the new Israel — which Christians have always believed — but about the historical, earthly Israel of the Jewish people. It acknowledges their witness, their fidelity, and even their attachment to the land.
But then comes the key clarification:
<blockquote>Christians are invited to understand this religious attachment, which finds its roots in biblical tradition, without, however, making their own any particular religious interpretation of this relationship.</blockquote>
And just to make it unmistakable, the Vatican adds:
<blockquote>The existence of the State of Israel and its political options should be envisaged not in a perspective which is in itself religious, but in their reference to the common principles of international law.</blockquote>
Bingo.
That is exactly what the patriarchs of Jerusalem are reaffirming. And they are completely right.
This is why I would not call myself a Zionist, or a Christian Zionist, or any other kind of Zionist. Not because I dislike Jews — I don’t. Not because I oppose the State of Israel — I don’t.
I am broadly supportive of the nation-state of Israel but not because of Zionist religious claims, which I don’t believe are true. I do not believe Jews are entitled to the Holy Land because of a theological premise. As a Christian, I believe the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament. Christ is the New Covenant. The Church is the spiritual Israel. Those Old Testament promises are fulfilled — not suspended, not postponed.
And I also don’t believe that occupying a piece of land 2,000 years ago grants a perpetual title deed. If that were the case, we’d have to hand Mount Rushmore back to the Lakota Sioux. I don’t believe that logic anywhere.
That said, I still broadly support Israel because I don’t like the alternatives. I don’t want Iran running the Holy Land. I don&#8217;t think the Muslims have been particularly protective of the holy sites. The Ottoman Empire is gone. Baldwin’s Kingdom of Jerusalem isn’t coming back anytime soon. The real-world options are limited.
From the standpoint of international law, the Jews were granted territory by the British Empire, recognized by the United Nations, and then defended it through war. Like it or not, under the modern nation-state system, that matters.
But that isn’t Zionism. And it certainly isn’t biblical prophecy.
You can support Israel without subscribing to the relatively novel theology of Christian Zionism. You can like Jews without turning geopolitics into eschatology.
I love the Jews. I grew up in New York. I’m extremely philosemitic. If you told me I had to choose between hanging out with the guys making pastrami sandwiches or the guys making shawarma, I’m choosing pastrami 100 times out of 100. Okay — 999 times out of 1,000.
And you can do that without embracing a theology invented in the 19th century and dressed up as ancient Christianity.
That is clearly what the patriarchs of Jerusalem are saying. And anyone pretending this is antisemitic, radical, or some kind of rupture with tradition is, frankly, completely insane.

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